Ryan E. Day
Henry Ford is credited with the cheeky quote, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said, ‘A faster horse.’” But, people didn’t get a faster horse (which may indeed have been what...
M. Berk Talay
In April, Ford announced that it will be phasing out nearly all of its passenger cars in the United States. If all goes according to plan, 90 percent of Ford’s portfolio in North America will be...
Andrew Maynard
In case you missed it, Elon Musk recently called BS on the field of nanotechnology. The ensuing Twitter spat was admittedly rather small on the grand scale of things, but it did throw up an important...
Jon Speer
We raise the corrective and preventive action (CAPA) topic often because it is still something that companies tend to struggle with and find themselves in hot water over, particularly when it comes...
Capture 3D
For more than 125 years, GE Appliances (GEA) has been designing and manufacturing a full suite of consumer appliances—including refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, freezers, washers, dryers, air...
Eryn Brown
In ancient times, the story goes, cooks in the city of Sybaris were granted yearlong monopolies for the sale of unique dishes they created. Since then, generations of inventors have relied on patents...
Megan Ray Nichols
Manufacturing is in the middle of a new industrial revolution that requires skilled laborers. However, by most reports, many manufacturers lack enough of these well-trained employees, creating a...
Russell Fedun
Cogeco’s technical distribution center in Burlington, Ontario, is one of Canada’s drop-off points for internet modem and cable device repair. In 2011, the company’s management carried out a kaizen...
Alison Gillespie
On a recent morning, Rick Lake stopped in the middle of giving a tour of NIST’s machine shop to ponder a part sitting on a shelf. It was about 25 cm long and made of metal coated in a sheen of purple...
Dirk Dusharme @ Quality Digest
In our June 15, 2018, episode of QDL, we get a field report from the HxGN LIVE user conference, examine the “story of quality,” and consider the importance of experience.
HxGN Live recap
Mike...
Ryan E. Day
Business partnerships are nothing new. Partnerships that result in leaner manufacturing processes, more consistent quality, and lower manufacturing costs—that is worth talking about.
With global...
Maria Guadalupe
Making mistakes and learning from them is par for the course for companies. But years of bad decisions could lead to the downfall of conglomerates.
In the case of General Electric, a major engine...
Robert Gabsa
In today’s talent market, employees are consumers of the workplace: They are attracted, recruited, and wooed into making employment decisions, similar to how companies market products and services to...
Nick Castellina
It is a great time to be a small business in manufacturing. Today’s digital disruption is about ideas, not major capital investments or facilities with sprawling footprints. Although it’s true that...
Anthony D. Burns
Quality is related to processes. A process is “a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.” It doesn’t matter whether the process is the handling of invoices, customers...
Tim Lozier
Quality management systems (QMS) have become strategic components that touch more and more of the business today. With new versions of QMS standards, and the enrollment of all people in the quality...
Janet Woodcock
The staff of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) always tries to utilize cutting-edge science and up-to-date process management, befitting our...
Guy Courtin
The digital age is well underway, and that accounts for every aspect of business. A 2016 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) survey says that companies that digitally transform their supply chains will be...
Jesse Lyn Stoner
Do you seesaw back and forth, trying to manage polarities in your life and find the right balance?
There are a lot of seesaws you can get caught on: overcommitted—bored, trust too easily—...
Naphtali Hoff
A story is told about a reporter who was interviewing a successful bank president. He wanted to know the secret of the man’s success. “Two words: right decisions,” the banker told him.
“And how do...
